Try to ignore the thawing dog poop and stay off your lawn for now

This time of year it is a toss-up between collecting bits of semifrozen dog poop versus not walking on the wet lawn for fear of damaging it. I am not sure the uninitiated will appreciate my jumping into the subject so bluntly, but until lawns become less of a precious possession in these parts, I gotta do it.

As I write this, the snow is finally melting to the point I can see some of our lawn. By the time you read this the geese will be back in Southcentral Alaska, and they don't arrive until there are melted areas for them to rest on, to forage for food — and, since I'm already at it — to poop.

Your lawn is thawing out. It is, of course, very difficult to kill a lawn. Indeed the reason we use them is because they are great at handling traffic, recreation and abuse. Still, this time of year it is best to stay off yours until it is much drier. (Leave the poop. It, too, will dry.) Walking on wet lawns compacts the soil. It will recover eventually, but why damage it in the first place?

That is not to say it is too early to take care of your lawn mower.

Most of you won't, but you should. If yours is gas-powered, it is among the No. 1 polluting motors in Alaska — and part of the reason is no one tunes theirs as long as it starts.

Motors aren't the only part of a mower that requires maintenance. I regularly ask folks: Have you sharpened your mower blade or had it sharpened in the past couple of years? I suspect you — like many others — have not. Arrange to get that chore done now, before the lawn needs cutting back.

Next, nurseries are open. Alaska gardeners need to take advantage of this and the best way to do that is to visit and visit often. You can learn a lot by just wandering around and observing what's growing at a nursery and what the nursery folks are cultivating and selling.

One thing to look for now are starter plants to use later this spring in planting containers. Buying 1- and 2-inch potted pelargoniums or fuchsia now, for example, will save a lot of more money that purchasing completed, full-grown hanging basket later.

Grow these little guys and use them in making your own hanging baskets. Just remember to pinch them back once or twice over the next month so the plants branch and fill out.

They'll also need transplanting at least once, until they are large enough for their designated spots. Don't forget to use endomycorrhizal fungi.

Hanging lobelia is another mainstay in Alaska baskets, and by the time many get around to planting it, there is no more seed available.

This is a seed that needs early planting and many nurseries have supplies now. They won't in a month. Get some before it's gone, as long as you take care of it in the meantime.

Canary bird vine and nasturtiums are always in short supply. Get seeds now. It is time to plant them up anyhow.

And if you expect to find any great heirloom tomatoes, you'd better be buying them this week. Not only will they become scarce soon, it's also time to start them if you want to have a decent crop. Yippee.

Once we start planting tomato seeds, there is no turning back — snow on the lawn or not.

Jeff’s Alaska garden calendar

They are back: Better than the swallows arriving at Capistrano, geese returned to the Anchorage Bowl. Summer is not far off.

Flowers to start from seed: Sweat peas, asters, nicotiana, cleome, zinnia, dianthus, ice-plant.

Vegetables to start from seed: Lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, peppers, tomatoes

Herbs to start from seed: Summer savory, sorrel

Alaska Botanical Garden's Spring Garden Show: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. April 15. Mall at Sears, 600 E. Northern Lights Blvd.

Alaska Botanical Garden Greenhouse Opening Celebration: Come see and celebrate the first year-round greenhouse at the ABG! 2-5 p.m. April 22.